Chickpeas!

But first, a shout out to Blogger. My blog is NOT a spam blog, so please remove the word verification for my posts immediately! It's very annoying! I've sent in my unlock request as per procedure......surely it can't take too long to determine that my blog is legit! I'm tired of typing in the word verification letters every time I want to save a post or publish and I miss the automatic save feature. Half the time I can barely read the darn letters and then they tell me I've entered it wrong! SHEESH! Okay, vent over, back to the food.......

There will be more strawberry recipes to come, but I need to get caught up on some recipes we made earlier this spring.

In case you haven't heard, I love Jack Bishop's A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen. In addition to introducing me to really simple, yet delicious cooking, it has also reacquainted me with the humble chickpea. I've always liked chickpeas in the form of hummus and I love chana masala, but I never prepared them much at home.

Spinach and Arugula Salad with
Indian-Spiced Chickpeas and Charred Red Onions

I like chickpeas best when they are prepared with Indian spices. A nice chickpea curry or masala, maybe with some spinach, paired with basmati rice and a piece of naan.....mmmmmm..........I could eat that every day. It makes me happy just thinking about it. My family thinks I'm strange.

For something a little different, however, I decided to try a chickpea salad. The chickpeas are still flavored with with a couple of Indian spices, but they are served over spinach and arugula (another favorite of mine) instead of in a sauce. Sweet, charred red onions give even more flavor interest to this simple dish. (If you'd like to avoid using the oven during the summer, red onions are fantastic charred on the grill.) A bit of lime juice, paired with the olive oil from cooking the spices and chickpeas, serves to dress the salad and brightens up the rest of the flavors.

Serve this salad with a bit of naan and it makes a light, refreshing, nutritious spring or summer meal.

Laura over at The Spiced Life also recently reviewed this recipe with some local greens she scored and it looks like she's been strawberry picking too!